Former teammate Morris backs Kennedy amid double touching backlash

Retired Canadian curling John Morris took to social media on Saturday night to give his two cents on the curling controversy involving Team Canada at Milano Cortina 2026.

Morris, alongside current Canadian Olympic curlers in Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, captured gold at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver as members of Kevin Martin’s rink.

Morris defended his former teammate in Kennedy, calling him “one of the most honest and fair teammates” he’s ever played with.

“Let me take a moment to set the record straight on the men’s curling situation. Marc Kennedy is hands down one of the most honest and fair teammates I’ve ever played with. Fierce competitor? Absolutely. Cheater? Not a chance,” Morris said in a post on X.

The controversy began Friday night when Kennedy, third for Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs, was accused of double touching the stone during his release by Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson.

Kennedy was not impressed and immediately barked back at Eriksson with a series of expletives that went viral on social media.

A camera angle appeared to show Kennedy touching the granite a second time after his initial release. Adding to the controversy, Canada accused Sweden of intentionally filming the infraction at the hog line.

Morris clarified the infraction is one that he’s never seen called in competition.

“The accusation against him is an infraction that, in my entire career, I’ve never once seen called in a competition. It’s incredibly subtle and likely something he’s been doing for years without even realizing it,” Morris said of Kennedy.

Amid the chaos, World Curling was forced to clarify the delivery rules on Saturday, stating curlers can touch the rock’s handle as many times as they wish before the hog line during their delivery, but can’t touch the granite during its forward motion.

A violation will result in the rock being removed from play.

World Curling began using officials to monitor the hog lines for infractions on Saturday.

Canadian skip Rachel Homan was called for the infraction on her first throw of Saturday’s loss to Switzerland, a ruling she was visibly agitated with, saying “I’ve never done it in my life.”

Great Britain second Bobby Lammie was also called for the infraction during Sunday’s morning draw.

On Sunday, World Curling said they would no longer be using officials to monitor hog lines unless requested by a player.

Below is the statement from the organization.

“Following a meeting with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees, an update in the stone monitoring protocol has been confirmed, beginning with the evening session on Sunday 15 February.

This change in protocol will see the two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams.

The umpires when requested will monitor deliveries for a minimum of three ends."

Morris says it’s difficult to ask officials to make these type of calls for the first time at the Olympics.

“The reality is, no curling official at these Olympics has ever been asked to make this call in a competition before, and expecting them to do so under such intense pressure is a tough ask—especially when the outcome of the shot is almost certainly unaffected," said Morris.

Canada’s Team Jacobs sits at 4-1 at Milano Cortina 2026 while Team Homan is 1-3.